“There is nothing on record to show that the accused person was in any such kind of unlawful activity promulgating the agenda of PFI after its ban on 28.09.2022,” the court ruled
Ghazala Ahmad | Clarion India
NEW DELHI – A Delhi court granted bail to two Muslim men arrested by the Delhi Police under stringent sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a case registered in connection with the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI).
Israr Ali Khan, 60, and Mohd Shamoon, 71, were arrested in the first week of October in an alleged case of ‘raising slogans’ and ‘instigating emotions of the ordinary people in support of the banned organization, PFI.
While granting bail to the two men, the court highlighted the contradictions in the police probe and accused the cops of a frame-up.
“There is nothing on record to show that the accused person was in any such kind of unlawful activity promulgating the agenda of PFI after its ban on 28.09.2022,” the court ruled.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjay Khanagwal, in his order passed on December 3, 2022, released Khan and Shamoonbe on bail with immediate effect on their furnishing personal bail bonds of Rs. 25,000 each.
Advocate Abu Bakr Sabbaq, appearing in the court for the duo, said, “Both the accused were apprehended under preventive detention on September 27 soon after the ban on PFI. But they were released on October 3 as no evidence was found against them.”
“Even after their release order on October 3, they were kept under illegal detention by the police throughout the night and were released only the next morning,” the counsel complained.
The police claimed that they arrested the duo on December 5 from their house. But why were they not released in the first place? The cops don’t have an answer to the question. The police’s highhandedness didn’t stop there. Along with the accused, their mobile phones, documents and some books were taken away by the police in the name of investigation, yet nothing substantial came of it to prove them guilty.
Advocate Sabbaq said, “Some material, including their (the accused) mobile phones, was also collected by the police during the investigation, but all of it couldn’t prove their alleged role in advocating or supporting any cause, financial or otherwise, of the banned organization, PFI”.
The court added in its order “No previous antecedents of the accused persons have been shown”.
The Delhi court highlighted that no accusations against the persons are true. Both the men are no more required for custodial interrogation and no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping them behind bars.
Israr Ali Khan and Mohd Shamoon can walk out on bail but are restricted by the court from leaving the capital or country without informing the authorities.
Earlier, 8 more members were released and granted bail by the local court after police failed to prove that they were involved in any unlawful activity.
The Central government, on September 28, 2022, imposed a five-year ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI).
